Shinnecock Hills: Where the US Open will be won and lost
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Where will the 2018 US Open be won and lost? We take a look at the key holes at Shinnecock Hills…
There have been four US Open’s held at Shinnecock Hills since 1896, and the 2018 edition is set to be longer than ever.
Retief Goosen claimed the title when the US Open was last played at Shinnecock in 2004, but it’s a course that played a lot shorter than the test players will face this year. With 17 new back tees (according to Golfweek), the course has added 446 yards and will play a total of 7,445 yards – yet remain a par 70.
The most significant changes come at the par-four 14th, which is now a staggering 519 yards, and the par-five 16th, which extends to 616 yards.
But what holes are crucial for the players? We examine where Shinnecock will be won and lost…
7th Hole: Par 3, 189 yards
Forget the flack it copped in 2004, with players putting off the green on Saturday and the need for officials to water the green between every group during the final round. Billed as Shinnecock’s signature hole, course designers consider it one of the best “Redan” holes in golf. The tiny green tilts like a crooked table, and slants sharply from front right to left back. In 2004 eventual winner Retief Goosen made par here on all four days.
11th Hole: Par 3, 159 yards
Length isn’t the issue on this uphill par 3, once dubbed “the shortest par 5 in the world” by Lee Trevino. There’s thick rough long and left of the green, which cambers towards a cluster of deep bunkers waiting short and right. Throw in a cross wind and it’s like playing the 12th at Augusta National. In 2004, the conditions meant the Sunday pin was in a spot which then chairman of the USGA Championship Committee Walter Driver called “among the easier available”. Despite this, Goosen was just one of four players on Sunday to make birdie on the 11th.
Hole 16: Par 5, 616 yards
A make-or-break par 5 – one of just two on the course. Usually played into a prevailing wind, this triple dog-leg will play 76 yards longer than in 2004 and zigzags through a maze of 20 bunkers. Half of those surround a long yet narrow green, which is home to some of the trickiest pin placements. The last time the US Open was played here, both Goosen and Mickelson made birdies to stayed tied for the lead with two holes to go, with Goosen taking the title after Phil doubled the 17th.
Hole 18: Par 4, 485 yards
A fish-hook-shaped par 4, best remembered for Corey Pavin’s famous 4-wood that clinched victory in 1995. It still takes a big drive uphill and a semi-blind approach from an uneven lie to reach the putting surface, which sits sunken into a slight hollow and pitches steeply from back to front.
Hole By Hole Yardages
| Front Nine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Yards | 399 | 252 | 500 | 475 | 589 | 491 | 189 | 439 | 485 |
| Par | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Back Nine | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Par | 415 | 159 | 469 | 374 | 519 | 409 | 616 | 180 | 485 |
| Yards | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
